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y. 


No one is so Wise that He Cannot Become Wiser. 

-From Book of Maxims- 









































































































Runaway NannyI 

AND OTHER 

DELIGHTFUL STORIES 

BY 

CLARA cJ'DENTON 

Author of “BUSY LITTLE BIRDS” 
“HOTTE-SPUN STORIES” ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED BY 

JOSEPH EUGENE DASH 




"A JUST RIGHT BOOK ” 

PUBLISHED BY 

ALBERT WHITMAN COMPANY 

CHICAGO U 3 A. 











RUNAWAY NANNY 

Copyright 1925, by Albert Whitman & Co. 
Chicago, U. S. A. 


OTHER BOOKS BY 
THE SAME AUTHOR 


BUSY LITTLE BIRDS 

New Knowledge Book of Mr. and 
Mrs. Redbreast and their orchard 
home. 


OPEN AIR STORIES 

Best told tales of fowls, animals 
and birds. 


HOME-SPUN STORIES 

Fine stories to further eager little 
minds. 


REAL OUT-OF-DOOR STORIES 

Real Birds, Insects and Animal 
Stories. 


REAL BIRD TALES 

New Tales of the orchard birds 
and their friends. 



n. 



COSY-CORNER STORIES 

Natural told tales that will linger 
in children’s minds. 


















CONTENTS 


Nanny Breaks the Rope. 9 

Nanny Begins to See the World. 17 

In a Barn and Out.24 

In a Bag. 30 

Nanny Finds a Friend.37 

Nanny Goes to School. 45 

On the Roof . 53 

Safe at Last. 00 

BOOK TWO 

Fan’s Vanity.. 

The Chick and the Crumb. 73 

Billy’s Road.75 

Some of Bob’s Trials. 80 

Nellie’s Orphans.89 

Rinktum . 93 

The Silver Thimble.97 

Doctor Puss.102 

Grandfather’s Walking Stick.107 

A Morning Bath .114 

A Sensible House.117 

Coonie.119 

Rabbits.123 


5 



























A CKNOW LEDGE MEN T 


The stories in this book made their first appearance in the 
following magazines : Fan’s Vanity—Golden Rule, The Chick and 
the Crumb—The Churchman, Billy’s Road—Our Little Ones, Some 
of Bob’s Trials—Christian Work, Nellie’s Offerings—Christian 
Union (now The Outlook), Rinktum—Bets and Animals, The 
Silver Thimble—Golden Rule, Dr. Puss — Advocate, Grandfather’s 
Walking Stick — Advance, Morning Bath—Baptist Examiner, A 
Sensible Horse—Our Little Ones, Coonie—Our Little Ones, Rab¬ 
bits—Christian Work. 



6 


FOREWORD 


Children are always most appreciative of action, 
humor , adventure and mystery in a story. When we 
consider that a child is horn without reasoning power 
or the faculty of thinking constructively } it is not at 
all strange that action has a very strong appeal. 

It is true that a child will employ every waked 
hour at some play or task. This is the natural results 
of instinctively reaching out for knowledge. To the 
child mindeach fresh undertaking is mystery , ad¬ 
venture J and the thrill of seeing the outcome of a 
task. By this process with help and guidance, the child 
gradually accumulates the values, and the mistakes 
of action. 

The Little Goat of this story will establish her¬ 
self very firmly in the child readers mind, for Bun¬ 
away Nanny Cf after a day out” is returned with an ac¬ 
cumulation of knowledge, of unusual humor, good 
people met and the beautiful moral of: There is 
no place like Home/' firmly established in her goat 
mind. 



7 



Story of Runaway Nanny. 


8 




































































































































RUNAWAY NANNY 



CHAPTER I 

NANNY BREAKS THE ROPE 
It was a hot summer day, but pretty Nanny, the 
Goat, lying asleep on the grass in the shade of a great 
oak tree, did not mind it at all. 

Should we like to sleep on the grass in the shade of a 
big tree? Some people would not, because the ants and 
bugs of all kinds might crawl into their ears and into 
their noses, and if they were sleeping with their mouths 
open, as some foolish people do, the insects might even 
walk or fly into their mouths. Then too, some children 
would think the ground hard to lie on, not a bit like 


9 










10 


NANNY BREAKS THE ROPE 


their own nice, little beds. So if little people want to 
rest in the shade of a big tree it would be better for them 
to lie in a hammock. But Nanny liked the grass, be¬ 
cause she was of the goat family and not a little child 
at all 

There are many stories about goats, how cross they 
often are and that they sometimes harm little children 
and even grownups, but Nanny was not that kind of 
a goat. She was a dear, kind, gentle, mother goat and 
had never harmed anyone in all her goat life, and so, 
of course, no one had ever hurt her. 

As she was lying there on the grass that warm after¬ 
noon, sleeping quietly, Tom, the big family cat, came 
stepping so softly over the grass that Nanny did not 
hear him, but kept right on sleeping. By and by Tom 
must have grown tired of having everything so quiet, 
so he said right out, just as loud as he could, “Meow, 
meow!” 

Now, it is true that cats, and dogs and goats cannot 
talk as we do, but we can believe that the sounds they 
make to each other are their ways of talking. So, it 
must be that Tom’s “meow” meant this to Nanny. “I 
am hungry, my mistress has gone away and shut all the 
doors so that I cannot get to my saucer of milk which 





She Opened her eyes and Listened 


11 























12 


NANNY BREAKS THE ROPE 


stands in a corner of the woodshed. If she must go 
away so much, I think she might make a cat hole in the 
woodshed door, she seems to forget all about my com¬ 
fort.” 

When Nanny heard Tom’s first “meow” she opened 
her ej^es and listened to him, at last she said very gently, 
“Baa-a, ba-a-a,” and, we can suppose, that meant, 
“What is a cat hole?” Because Nanny had never heard 
of such a thing before. 

It may be that some folks have never heard of one 
either, so we may tell them that it is a little hole cut in 
a door, through which friend kitty may crawl into the 
house, or barn, or shed, whenever she is cold or hungry. 
In these days we don’t often see cat-holes. But there 
used to be a great many of them and when there were, 
cats had much better care than they sometimes have 
now. 

Nanny closed her eyes again when the cat stopped 
meowing, but very soon he began again, and this is what 
he was telling her, “My, but I am hungry! I tried to 
catch a big fat gopher, but he ran away from me.” 

“Ba-a-a,” said Nanny, which was her way of saying, 
“I don’t know what a gopher is, but I’m glad he got 
away.” 




NANNY BREAKS THE ROPE 


13 


At this Tom was very angry and he gave a great 
many sharp “meows,” which said to Nanny, “You are 
a sleepy, lazy old goat, if you weren’t you would run 
all over this fine meadow.” 

“Ba-a-a,” said Nanny again, “how can I get away 
when I’m tied up tight with this rope?” 

Tom gave a great many meows after that, and this 
is what he told Nanny, “That rope is old and rotten 
and if you pull on it hard enough it will break and you 
will be free. But I can’t stay here and talk to you, I 
must go hunt up something to eat, that bad gopher has 
pushed up a great heap of dirt in my mistress’ garden, 
I know she won’t like this, so to please her I’ll go and 
catch one,” and away Tom went. 

“Ba-a-a,” said Nanny softly to herself many times. 
She was wondering what gophers were like and was 
thinking if she could get away from that one little cor¬ 
ner, she could find out something about gophers and 
see the rest of the world. So she gave one gentle little 
tug on the rope, another and a harder one, still harder 
and harder and then—there she was, free. 

“Ba-a-a, ba-a-a,” Nanny said very loud. “Now I’ll 
find out all about gophers.” 




14 


NANNY BREAKS THE ROPE 



Spend most of their time underground. 


But Nanny soon began to eat of the long, green grass 
of the meadow, and she was so happy that she forgot 
all about the gophers. As goats are not like the cats, 
Nanny did not want a gopher to eat, for her food was 
only nice, green grass, or meal mixed with water. All 
she wanted was to see something she had never seen be¬ 
fore. 

When she had eaten so much grass that she just did 
not want any more she began to look around a little, 
just to see what was going on. 

Not a creature was in sight. She heard the locusts 
buzzing away—some people call it singing, hut they 





NANNY BREAKS THE ROPE 


15 


make the noise by rubbing their legs over their wings— 
and from away off in the woods came the shrill call of 
the little gray Pe-wee. 

Then Nanny thought about the gopher again, but 
the reason she did not see any was because these pretty 
little creatures spend most of their time under ground. 

They look something like squirrels and something 
like the rats except that they have soft, furry striped 
coats. They come up out of the ground so seldom 
that only a patient, watchful cat or dog would be able 
to see them. They sometimes do a great deal of harm 
to the lawns and gardens over which people work so 
hard. Nanny did not find out all this for herself, for 
she did not see any gophers, and indeed, things soon 
began to happen so fast that she forgot all about the 
little animals. 

As Nanny stood there looking around she noticed 
for the first time that a smooth, white road ran along 
in front of the meadow, and off she trotted to reach 
it. She knew all about green grass and about the 
soft, brown earth in her goat pen, but she had never 
seen anything like this wide, white sandy road, so she 




16 


NANNY BREAKS THE ROPE 


trotted along very happily, glad to find something new. 

By and by she came to something big and black ly¬ 
ing in the fence corner. Now goats are always curi¬ 
ous and when they come to something which they have 
never seen before, instead of keeping away from it 
and letting it alone, they run right to it and try to 
find out everything about it, and this trait, which we 
call curiosity, often leads them into mischief. 





CHAPTER II 


NANNY BEGINS TO SEE THE WORLD 



Runaway Nanny ran up to the big black thing 
lying in the fence corner and looked at it a long time 
with her queer yellow eyes. 

When we look closely at a goat’s eyes we can see 
that the center part, or pupil, as it is called, is not round 
as is in other animal’s eyes, that means human eyes 
also, but it is long and narrow. 

After a while Nanny seemed satisfied that the big 
black thing would not hurt her so she went closer to 
it, put her little black nose against it and found that 
it was soft, then she set her little teeth in it and began 
to chew. The strange thing about all goats is that they 
like to chew rags and paper as well as we like to chew 
bread and meat and other good things. So Nanny was 
happy indeed. All her short life she had been tied up 
under a tree, or in a barn, so she had never had any fun 


17 


18 


NANNY BEGINS TO SEE THE WORLD 


of this kind before and now she was making the most 
of it. While she was chewing away with all her might, 
her mouth suddenly touched something cold and hard, 
which she did not like at all and just as she was won¬ 
dering what this queer thing could be, she heard a 
voice shouting at her most loudly. She looked up and 
there was a man climbing the fence close beside her 
shouting, “Eat up my coat will you? My watch in 
it, too!” Then, as he came to the top rail, he threw 
a heavy club at her. This caused Nanny to jump— 
and the big club just missed her head. So she ran on, 
and on, as fast as her little feet could go, until 
she was far away from the man with his club. Then 
she stopped and said “Ba-a-a,” as loud as she could, 
but there was no one in sight to hear her or to answer 
her. Poor little Nanny, she had lived only one short 
year, and she had never had but one kind mistress, and 
so a club had never been thrown at her before, and she 
must have wondered very much why the man had been 
so angry as to stop her eating his coat. 

After looking behind her to make certain that she 
was safe, she went on again more quickly, for 
there was no grass beside the road and noth¬ 
ing to see but a few birds flying around. Nanny had 




NANNY BEGINS TO SEE THE WORLD 


19 


almost made up her Goat mind to turn about and run 
back to her home, when she came in front of a big 
and very fine house, which stood in the middle of a 
wide lawn. There was a handsome iron fence around 
the lawn which Nanny did not like to see at all for 
the grass inside the fence was sweet, green clover and 
it made Nanny hungry just to look at it, even though 
she had already eaten a great deal of plain meadow 
grass. She went along close to the fence very 
slowly, her eyes fixed on the green clover. 
“Ba-a-a,” she said softly, which meant, “It’s 
good to look at, but I wish I had some of it in my 
mouth.” Just then she came to a big gate which some 
careless person had left wide open. In a minute she 
was on the inside of the fence and was eating the ten¬ 
der clover. She filled her little stomach as full as it 
could hold, and then she began to look around. The 
window shades were down in the big house and not a 
sound was heard anywhere. So Nanny thought she 
would go a little closer and see what she could find. 
She wanted a drink very much and she thought there 
might he water somewhere near. So she went around 




20 


NANNY BEGINS TO SEE THE WORLD 



the house and there she found a big windmill pumping 
water out of a well. The water was running into a 
sort of trough which carried it into a field near by, 
hut Nanny did not stop to see where the water went, 
she just ran straight up to the trough and drank all 
she wanted. Then she was ready for something else. 
So she trotted on and soon came, beyond the windmill, 
to a little house not much bigger than her stable. Still 
very curious, she went up to it. She then saw that a 
big wooden latch held the door fast. She put her 
stubby nose under the latch, lifted it up and then with 
her nose still under the latch she pushed the door open 
and trotted inside the little room. A man lay asleep 
on a cot and beside him on the floor lay an old clay 




NANNY BEGINS TO SEE THE WORLD 


21 


pipe and a package of tobacco. This was the first time 
Nanny had ever seen any tobacco but she knew at once 
that the paper was something which she could chew. 
She took the package in her mouth and as it was only 
half full she chewed away on the soft paper until she 
came to the tobacco. When she had taken a mouthful 
of that, it made her cough out loud, just like a horse’s 
cough. This queer sound waked the sleeping man who 
was the gardener, and who ought to have been at work. 
Although he was a very kind man and usually wouldn’t 
hurt a fly, he was so surprised to see his package of 
tobacco hanging from the mouth of a goat, that he 
shouted as loud as he could, and picking up one of 
his heavy shoes, which lay on the floor near the couch, 
he aimed it at Nanny’s head. But Nanny was away like 
a flash, so that when the shoe fell, it hit the floor instead 
of Nanny. The door which she had pushed open had 
not swung shut again and she did not stop running 
until she was safely on the other side of the handsome 
iron fence. 

Nanny should have been so frightened by this time 
that she should have turned about and trotted 




22 


NANNY BEGINS TO SEE THE WORLD 


home. But no, indeed, she had seen so many queer 
things that she longed to see more. She ran on very 
fast for some time, until she came to a pretty little 
white house standing in the center of a green lawn, 
around which there was no fence. This made Nanny 
very happy, for although she had eaten so much that 
the grass no longer looked good to her, she was glad 
that she could run right up to the house and look around 
for more mischief, although, of course, she didn't know 
that it was mischief. 

Everything was so still and quiet that Nanny kept 
on going nearer and nearer to the house. On the porch 
was a large rocking-horse which was made to look so 
much like a real horse that at first she really thought it 
was alive. She had seen horses, of course, and was not 
at all afraid of them. In fact, at one time in her short 
life, her master had kept a handsome bay horse, that 
had been given a little corner in Nanny’s own stable. 
She had liked the bay horse very much, so she was glad 
when she thought the horse on the porch was a live one. 
She trotted up the steps of the porch and went close 




NANNY BEGINS TO SEE THE WORLD 


23 


to it saying, “Ba-a-a, ba-a-a,” in her softest 
tones. But this was a queer horse, for it did not turn 
its head and look at her as the other horse she knew 
had done. What could be the matter with it? Nanny 
put her nose up close to smell of it and then her 
mouth touched the real horse-hair of which its mane 
was made. Upon finding that the horse was not real, 
in a moment her mouth was full of the soft horse-hair, 
and she was chewing up the long black mane as fast 
as she could. 





CHAPTER III 


IN A BARN AND OUT 



We cannot think that Nanny chewed on the horse¬ 
hair because it tasted good, neither does it seem as if 
she could have been hungry when she’d had so much 
nice fresh grass to eat. No, she just chewed away on 
it because it was her nature to like to keep her jaws 
going on something, just as a puppy will chew on an 
old shoe. So, Nanny’s fun went merrily on. She 
chewed away on the mane until there was nothing left 
of it. Then she pushed her little black nose along the 
wooden sides of the rocking horse until she came to its 
long, black tail, which was also made of real horse¬ 
hair. She quickly took that into her mouth and had 
begun to chew on it when the door of the house near 
her opened and a woman came quickly at her, loudly 
calling “Go away, Go away.” Again naughty Nanny 


24 


IN A BARN AND OUT 


25 


had to run, for, although it was only a woman this time 
and not an angry man, this woman acted as though 
she would like to punish Nanny for spoiling the nice 
horse. Nanny made her four little feet fly down the 
lawn just as fast as ever they could go and the woman 
ran after her scolding her with every jump. When 
she had chased the naughty little goat into the road 
she went back to the house and just at this moment 
Nanny came to a big oak tree near the road. Since 
the woman was not to be seen, Nanny seemed to 
think this was a good place to rest so she lay down in 
the shade, drew a long breath and began to chew her 
cud, just like a cow. 

Some animals have two stomachs. Into the first one 
all the food goes without having had much chewing, 
then when that stomach is full, the animal can bring 
the food up into its mouth and chew it all over again, 
this time making the food very fine. It is then swal¬ 
lowed again and goes into the second stomach where it 
makes over to help the animals to live and grow. 

All animals do not chew the cud. Dogs, cats, horses, 
pigs and many other animals have but one stomach. 
But goats, sheep and cattle all chew the cud and they 
all seem to enjoy doing so. 




26 


IN A BARN AND OUT 


So Nanny lay under the trees and with her eyes half 
shut chewed away, thinking to herself, no doubt, that 
even though she had been scolded and chased she was 
having a very good time after all, “seeing the world.” 
Just how long she would have lain there we never can 
tell, for right in the midst of her contentment she heard 
that sound which she feared more than anything else in 
the world, the bark of a dog. Twice in her short life 
she had been chased by a dog and she had not forgotten 
her fright at those times. 

In an instant she was on her four nimble feet and 
looked around to see which way she should run. Just 
then a soft, kind voice called, “Nanny, Nanny, come 
Nanny.” Then Nanny saw a lady not far away and 
she thought at first it was her mistress, so she trotted 
toward her very quickly. When she came close to the 
woman she saw that it was not her mistress, but as 
she put her hand on Nanny and petted her gently, while 
she called her name in soft, kind tones, she stayed close 
beside her, for the dog was now passing along the road 
and with him were three or four big boys carrying big- 
sticks. Nanny felt very safe with the lady, so she did 
not resist when the lady led her by the collar to a big 
cool barn. She led her up to one corner where there was 




IN A BARN AND OUT 


27 


same nice fresh hay on which Nanny lay down at once. 
Then the lady patted her on the head, spoke to her very 
kindly and went out and shut the big barn doors. So 
Nanny knew that she was safe from the dog for a 
while anyway. When the lady had gone away Nanny 
curled herself up on the hay and was soon sound asleep. 

She had a nice long nap from which she was awakened 
suddenly by the sound of men’s heavy voices quite near 
her. Nanny jumped up in a second and looked at 
the men as they kept on talking. She did not know 
what they were talking about, but she said the only 
thing she knew, which was, “Ba-a-a, ba-a-a!” 

This was what the men said, “Where could that 
pretty Nanny goat have come from? She must have 
strayed away from her home and,” one of them 
said, “I suppose my wife took her in, she always takes 
care of all the stray animals. But we have no need 
for a goat, so I’ll just let her out. She can be trusted, 
I think, to find her way home.” 

Then he stepped to the big barn door and pushed 
it wide open. 

Although Nanny did not know what the men had 
been talking about she did know what the open door 
meant, so she trotted out at once. It had been nice and 







— — ' i wmrnmmm —————————— 










DASH 


“Nanny, Nanny, Come Nanny ’ 


28 




























IN A BARN AND OUT 


29 


cool in the big barn, but Nanny thought it was much 
nicer and cooler in the open air, and as she was quite 
rested after her long nap, she was ready to go on her 
way “seeing the world.” 

At first she looked all around to be sure that the 
big dog had gone away, for Nanny would very 
much rather be shut up than to be chased by a dog. 
But neither dog nor boys were any where in sight, so 
she trotted on again up the road so fast that the white 
house and barn were soon far behind her. 

As the man’s wife did not find out that he had opened 
the door and let Nanny out, until several hours had 
passed away, there was no one to chase after Nanny 
and bring her back. When the woman did find out she 
was very sorry, and even went down to the road and 
called, “Nanny, Nanny, come Nanny,” in kind coax¬ 
ing tones. But Nanny was too far away to hear her 
and just at that time she was eating some fresh grass 
which grew beside the road and as she was having a very 
good time, it may be that she would not have come 
to the lady even if she had heard her calling. 




CHAPTER IV 


IN A BAG 



If Nanny had been let alone she would no doubt, 
have kept right on eating grass until she had enough 
and then, as there was nothing to see right there, she 
might have turned her little gray and white body around 
and have trotted back to her own home. But before 
she had eaten all the grass she wanted, something else 
happened. 


30 




IN A BAG 


31 


A horse and wagon came clattering along and in the 
wagon, driving alone, was a big strong man. He spied 
Nanny long before he reached her. 

“My,” he said to himself, “what a nice little Nanny 
goat, and as she’s away off here so far from any house, 
I don’t believe she has any home. How fine it would be 
to have some goat’s milk for my little children to drink. 
I’ve heard it’s very good for children.” 

He stopped the horse, climbed down from his seat 
and went slowly toward the goat. Nanny stopped 
eating when she heard the man coming, raised her head 
and looked him over. She did not see men very often, 
except as they passed along the road. Her master was 
away from home nearly all the time. True, he came 
home, now and then, for a day or two, but as he never 
took any care of Nanny, she saw very little of him. 
More than that, since she had been taking this fine trip, 
“seeing the world,” two men had hollered and thrown 
things at her, and though she was only a goat, she re¬ 
membered something about these things. She did not 
like to see another man coming toward her. He said, 
“Nanny, Nanny,” to her in a very kind tone, but she 
did not feel very sure of his kindness and as he came 
nearer to her, she began to move away from him, he 




32 


IN A BAG 


coaxed and coaxed, but still she kept on moving away 
just about as fast as he came toward her. By and by, he 
thought he was close enough to catch Nanny, so he 
made a quick jump and almost caught her by the collar, 
but she was too quick for him and she started up the 
road at a lively trot, for now she was really frightened. 

Then the man remembered his horse and wagon 
standing in the middle of the road. He knew it would 
not do to leave them there while he chased after the 
goat, because the horse might be started to run away 
too, and the horse and wagon were worth more to him 
than several goats. So the man went back to his wagon. 
The good horse stood resting on three legs, for one of 
his feet was a little hurt and his eyes were shut so he 
didn’t look as if he would run away, no matter what 
happened. However, the man led the good old horse 
to a fence corner, tied him fast to one of the posts, and 
then went off after Nanny again. But Nanny gave 
him quite a chase, he could not get even as close to 
her as he had been before. Then he thought of some¬ 
thing. He put his hand in the pocket of the blue blouse 
he was wearing, and brought out a big, red apple, which 
he had meant to eat by and by. Nanny sniffed her 
little snub nose and said, “Ba-a-a, ba-a-a,” which to the 




IN A BAG 


33 



Brought out a big apple 


man meant, “Yes, I’d like that apple.” 

“Come on,” coaxed the man, “come on, and you may 
have it.” 

So little Nanny came closer and closer, thinking of 
nothing but the beautifid red apple, the smell of which 
was a great delight to her, and at last, she took the 
apple in her mouth. Then, a quick dash, and the man 
had his hands on Nanny’s collar. 

Saying to himself, “Now, she is mine, she is mine,” 
he took Nanny up in his arms and went toward the 




34 


IN A BAG 


wagon with her. Of course, she tried her best to get 
away, but she was such a little goat and the man was 
big and strong, so, of course, she couldn’t get away. 

In the back of the wagon were some big canvas 
bags in which the man had carried potatoes to town, so 
he pulled one of these big bags over poor Nanny’s head 
and down over her body and feet, then he tied the bag 
up tight, and said, “Now, Miss Nanny, I think you 
are safe.” 

Then he quickly untied his horse, climbed into the 
back of the wagon, took up the reins, said, “Giddap,” 
to the horse and away they went. 

Of course Nanny tried to kick herself out of the bag, 
but as it was so big she was not able to kick often in 
the same spot. 

The man drove standing up in the back of the wagon 
for a long time, so that he could watch poor Nanny 
and see that she did not get out of the bag. After a 
while he felt certain that she never could get out, so 
he climbed into the seat and left Nanny alone in the 
back of the wagon. 

We know by this time that the man was not doing 
right. In the first place, he had no right to the goat, and 
besides, he knew down deep in his heart, that it was not 




IN A BAG 


35 


right to tie up the poor little creature in an old potato- 
bag. But he drove on, just the same, trying to quiet 
his conscience by telling himself that when he got the 
goat safely home he would always be good to her and 
give her plenty of good feed. 

Every few minutes he looked over his shoulder to 
see if the poor animal was still moving about in the 
bag. He knew she could not die for want of air, for 
the bag was woven of coarse, thick thread through which 
the air came freely. He had only a little over a mile 
to go before he would reach his home and he kept say¬ 
ing to himself, that he hadn’t hurt Nanny any, and, as 
she seemed to have no home, he was really a good friend 
to her. 

When the man had picked out one of the bags to 
pull over Nanny he had not noticed that there was a 
big hole near the bottom of the bag. As Nanny kicked 
and tumbled around in her queer prison, her little stub 
nose had found this hole. Then her love for chewing 
tilings, which the man had forgotten all about, helped 
her, for she began to chew right around that hole. How 
she did chew, and chew, and chew. Pretty soon, it was 
a very big hole, big enough for Nanny’s head to go 
through, but still she kept on chewing and by and by, 




36 


IN A BAG 


when the man turned around for another look at 
Nanny, he was just in time to see her jump out of the 
back end of the wagon and as she struck the ground, 
away went the bag in one direction and the goat in 
another. 










CHAPTER, V 


NANNY FINDS A FRIEND 



You may be certain, the man was much surprised 
when he saw the goat and his bag both getting away 
from him at once. He shouted “Whoa!” to his horse 
at the very top of his voice and the good beast stopped 
very sudden. It had been trotting along slowly, 
limping a little on its lame foot, and must have been 
very glad of a chance to rest The man did not wait 
this time to tie the horse, he did not even stop to throw 
the lines around the dash-board. His only thought 
seemed to be to get hold of the “Runaway Nanny.” 


37 


38 


NANNY FINDS A FRIEND 


But as he turned around after climbing out of the 
wagon, he had another surprise. 

Not far from the road, in front of a pretty little 
cottage, there was a beautiful flower garden and in 
this garden was a lady pulling weeds from a bed of 
petunias. She was sitting on the ground and as soon 
as Nanny caught sight of her she ran straight to her, 
bleating with all her might. The lady opened her arms 
and Nanny ran right into them. 

“Why, you poor little thing,” said the lady, as she 
hugged Nanny close in her arms, “you are trembling 
like a leaf.” 

At this moment, the lady saw the man coming to¬ 
ward them. 

“Come Nanny, Nanny,” he called, but at the first 
sound of his voice Nanny stuck her little head under 
the woman’s arms and trembled more than ever. 

“I am much obliged to you, Madam,” said the man, 
in a tone which he tried to make polite, “for catching 
my goat for me.” 

“Well, you needn’t be,” said the lady quickly, “for 
it isn’t your goat.” 

“What do know about that?” said the man meanly. 

“I know all about it,” was the answer, “Nanny and 






“/ am much obliged to you, Madam ” 


39 













































40 


NANNY FINDS A FRIEND 


I are old friends, she belongs to a friend of mine who 
lives not very far up this road, and I’d like to know 
how you have come by her? I suppose, by the looks 
of things, you had her in your wagon out there, and 
she got away?” 

“Yes,” said the man quickly, “I bought her today, 
and was taking her home.” 

“Now, I know you are not telling the truth, because 
I know how much my friend thinks of Nanny and that 
she wouldn’t sell her to any one.” 

“Well, she did sell her anyway,” said the man firmly. 

“I know this is not true,” said the lady, “you couldn’t 
have bought the goat today, because I saw my friend 
yesterday and she said she was to be at the dentist’s 
in the city all day today, so how could she have sold 
you the goat?” 

“I don’t care what she told you yesterday, people 
change their minds sometimes, don’t they?” 

As he said this he came a little closer and reached 
out his hand to take hold of Nanny. 

“Go away,” said the lady, “don’t you try to take 
her, my husband is a constable, he is in the barn with 
two other men and if you come an inch closer I will 




NANNY FINDS A FRIEND 


41 


call him.” So when the man heard this he stepped 
back a little 

“Now,” said the lady, kindly, “I want to know if 
you are telling the truth, so I’ll go into the house and 
call my friend on the ’phone. If she has come home 
and tells me that she has sold the goat to a tall, brown¬ 
haired, blue eyed man, wearing over-alls and blouse, 
then you may have the goat, but if she is there and says 
she didn’t sell Nanny to anyone, OR, if she isn’t 
at home, then I will call my husband.” 

The man looked very cross, but he did not seem able 
to say anything against this very good plan. So, the 
lady stood up and, taking Nanny by the collar, led 
her away. She went to the back porch, which was 
screened in and after fastening the screen door, she 
left Nanny there alone and went into the hall to tele¬ 
phone. 

Just as she had expected, there was no answer to 
her ring on the telephone although she rang several 
times. Then she went to the front window and looked 
out, the man and his horse and wagon were nowhere 
in sight. The lady’s next move was to unlock the screen 
door, then taking Nanny by the collar, she went to the 
barn to tell her husband all about it. 




42 


NANNY FINDS A FRIEND 


Her husband laughed when he heard the story. 

“Well,” he said, “my dear, you were a little too 
right for him, and he knew that he was not honest.” 

“But now,” said the good lady, “don’t you think it 
would be best to shut Nanny up and ’phone her mis¬ 
tress when she comes home that she is here?” 

“No indeed,” answered her husband, “that would 
give her mistress the trouble of coming after her. I 
think the best thing to do is just to turn Nanny loose. 
I think we can be sure that she will go home, for it is 
getting along toward the time for her warm bran mess. 
Chickens always go home to roost and, I suppose goats 
go home to sleep in their stables.” 

“But what if another bad man comes along and 
picks her up again?’ 

“That is not likely to happen, bad men are not 
quite so plenty as that,” said her husband with a laugh. 

“Perhaps you are right,” answered the woman, “but 
I will not turn her loose until I take her to the road, 
I know her too well.” 

“Why,” asked the husband, “what harm can she do 
between here and the road?” 

“She can eat up all my flowers,” answered his wife. 




NANNY FINDS A FRIEND 


43 



A big, black dog came bounding 


“Eat your flowers? Who ever heard of such a 
thing?” said the surprised husband. 

“I have, she is very fond of flowers, and that is 
one reason why she is always shut in her stable, or tied 
to a post.” 

“All right,” said the husband, “I suppose you know 
then, the safest thing to do is to lead her down to the 
road, head her toward home and then let her go.” 

The lady turned away and led Nanny out to the 
road. 

“Now you must be a good little Nanny and go 
straight home,” she said as she headed the goat toward 
her own home. 

She let loose of Nanny’s collar expecting to see her 
trot gladly towards her home. But that is the very 
thing which did not happen. 




44 


NANNY FINDS A FRIEND 


At that moment a big black dog came bounding 
along from the way in which Nanny was looking and 
the scared little goat gave one loud “ba-a-a” and 
bounded off in the other direction as fast as her four 
feet could carry her. 




CHAPTER VI 


NANNY GOES TO SCHOOL 



The good lad}^ felt very very sorry when she saw the 
goat running down the road, instead of going up the 
road toward her own home, as she should have done. 
But it was not safe to spend a minute calling Nanny, 
because the dog that had made all the trouble was the 
lady’s own dog. She knew very well that if she didn’t 
call him back he would run after Nanny and perhaps 
hurt her. So she called very loud and sharp, 


45 


46 


NANNY GOES TO SCHOOL 


“Carlo, Carlo, come here, Carlo!” 

Now if Carlo had been like some dogs, he 
would have paid no attention to the call of his mis¬ 
tress, but would have kept right on after Nanny. But 
he was a well-trained dog and when he was spoken 
to he always obeyed. So he stopped running at the 
first call, and when his mistress said, “Come here, 
Carlo,” he turned around and came running up 
to her, wagging his tail and looking as if he had never 
seen a goat in his life. His mistress patted him on 
the head, called him “good Carlo,” and then gave him 
a cracker which she took out of her apron pocket, she 
had put it there for Nanny, but had forgotten to give 
it to her because she was thinking so much about what 
she should do with her. It was too bad that the dog 
should have happened along just at that time, be¬ 
cause when Nanny came to the corner where the road 
crossed another one she turned onto the other one and 
so the lady lost sight of her. She was very much wor¬ 
ried about Nanny, as she thought Nanny could never 
find hei way home, so she took Carlo by the collar and 
went to the barn to talk to her husband. She thought 
he ought to get on his bicycle and go after Nanny, 
but he said, 




NANNY GOES TO SCHOOL 


47 


“Oh, it is all right, let her wander around, she’ll come 
trotting back after a while and go home, like Bo Peep’s 
sheep.” 

The lady did not think this, but as she could not 
change her husband’s mind, and was not strong enough 
to chase after Nanny herself, she shut Carlo up in the 
cow stable and went back to pulling weeds out of her 
petunia bed. 

Meanwhile Nanny was running as fast as she could 
along the cross road into which she had turned when 
she was so badly scared by the dog. She was sure the 
big fellow w r as coming after her yet, and so without 
stopping for even one second to look behind her, she 
ran on and on until she was very tired and almost out 
of breath. Then suddenly she saw right ahead of her, 
a pretty little house which stood not far from the road. 
It was so very quiet all around the house and 
no one was in sight anywhere that she thought it would 
be quite safe to stop a few moments and look at it. 
She then saw that it had two front doors, both of which 
were open, and in front of the doors was a neat little 
porch. Without wasting any more time, Nanny ran 
up on the porch, and as her little hoofs sounded on the 
boards, she heard a soft voice saying, 




48 


NANNY GOES TO SCHOOL 


“Come, Nanny, Nanny,” and there in one of the 
doorways stood a young lady. Nanny liked her looks 
at once, and as the young lady backed away from the 
door, Nanny trotted after her into the middle of the 
room. In another minute the young lady held a big 
red apple in her hand and she said again, “Come, 
Nanny, Nanny.” 

Nanny was only a little goat, not a very wise one 
at that, and as she dearly loved apples, she quite forgot 
that she had been caught a little while before with a 
big, red apple. So she trotted quickly up to the white 
hand that held the apple and was soon munching away 
on it as if she had not had either breakfast or dinner. 

She did not look around until she had eaten the 
apple, peeling, core, seeds and stem. Then she began 
to notice things. No doubt she was surprised to find 
that the little house, which seemed to have but one 
room, was nearly full of boys and girls of all sizes. 
The fact was, though, of course, Nanny did not know 
it, she was in a school room. The teacher thought this 
was a good time to talk to the children about goats, 
so while Nanny was munching her apple, she bade them 
notice her eyes, her little feet with the funny hoofs, and 
so on. She also asked all the children who had ever 




NANNY GOES TO SCHOOL 


49 


seen a goat before to raise their hands and only two 
hands went up. The children had all been very quiet 
and still until their hands were raised. But these two 
hands seemed to frighten Nanny. She gave a sudden 
jump and landed in the middle of the teacher’s desk. 
This made the children laugh, but the teacher quieted 
them at once, telling them they must not frighten 
N anny. 

The goat stood a moment looking around as if won¬ 
dering what she should do next. She didn’t seem to 
see anything worth doing, for she stood very still for 
a few seconds; then she happened to look down at the 
desk on which she was standing. An open book was 
lying there near her feet, and as soon as her eyes fell 
on that she knew just what to do. She took some of 
the leaves in her mouth and began to chew them. 

“Oh, Nanny, you mustn’t do that,” said the teacher 
gently, and moved toward her. Then a sudden new 
thought came to the teacher. 

“John and Jane,” she said to the boy and girl nearest 
the doors, “run and shut the doors quickly!” 

They sprang to the doors and closed them shut just 
as Miss Runaway Nanny reached the door with the 





Landed in the middle of the teacher’s desk 


50 
















































































































NANNY GOES TO SCHOOL 


51 


book still in her mouth. But the teacher went to her, 
meaning to take the book away from her, when away 
went Nanny to the other end of the room. One of the 
boys put out his hand to catch her, but the teacher 
said, “No, don’t frighten her; she is such a gentle little 
thing I can coax the book away from her.” 

Then the chase began. The teacher was kind and 
patient, but Nanny was full of play, so ’round and 
’round the room they went, the handsome book dangling 
from the goat’s mouth. Finally the teacher, at a loss 
to know what to do, picked up a book which was lying 
on a desk, and with it gave Nanny a gentle blow on 
the haunches. Immediately the goat dropped the book, 
gave a sudden leap upon a desk near an open window, 
and then, with another leap, disappeared into the open. 

The teacher did not look to see where Nanny went; 
she was too busy with the book. It was an expensive 
one which she had bought to use in her school work. 
She found that Nanny had destroyed one of the fine 
pictures and also several pages of the reading matter. 

Outside the schoolhouse there stood a tall pole, on 
the top of which was fixed a bell, and from it hung a 
long rope which nearly reached the ground. 




52 


NANNY GOES TO SCHOOL 


“Well,” said the teacher, as she discovered all that 
Nanny had done to her book, “I shall never allow a 
goat in my schoolroom again. I didn’t suppose they 
would eat books.” 

Just at that moment a boy who sat near the window 
called out: “Teacher, that goat is eating up our bell 
rope!” 

Perhaps we will wonder now why she had never 
tried chewing in two the rope with which she had been 
tied. Well, she never had. The reason is, no doubt, 
that there was no loose end to attract her attention, as 
there was on the bell rope. 




CHAPTER VII 


OX THE ROOF 



The teacher was still looking her book over, and 
when she heard the boy’s call she said quickly, without 
even looking up: 

“Run out and chase her away.” 

The children seemed to thing this meant that they 
should all go, so in a minute the school house was 
empty, and in another minute Nanny was racing down 
the road at her very best speed, chased by twenty laugh¬ 
ing, shouting children 

The chase had not gone on very long before the 
children knew that Runaway Nanny’s four nimble feet 
were able to keep her safely out of their way, but they 
still ran on just for the fun of the chase. 

By and by they came to another road. Nanny made 
a quick turn into this road, and just as she did so a 
big automobile turned the corner and barely missed 
hitting Nanny. 

The man stopped the car at once and called sharply 


53 


54 


ON THE ROOF 


to the children, who all stood still at the sound of his 
high, sharp tones. 

“What do you mean,” he asked, “chasing that poor 
little goat? I’ve a good mind to have every one of 
you arrested!” 

One of the larger hoys answered in a quick tone: 

“She was eating up the bell rope at the school house 
and the teacher told us to chase her away.” 

“Well, you didn’t need to chase her clear down here 
to get her away from the bell rope, did you?” he asked, 
still sharply. “I came very near hitting her with the 
car, and if she had been killed you would have had to 
pay for her. I am going past the school house and 
I’ll stop and tell the teacher just what you have done. 
And now don’t you try to chase the goat another step, 
do you hear?” 

The children made no answer, but backed away 
behind the car as much out of the man’s sight as pos¬ 
sible. 

Suddenly he called out: 

“You’ll have to go back to the school house, I sup¬ 
pose, after your hats and things, for it must be time 
for school to be out, so jump in, all of you, and I’ll 
give you a ride back.” 




ON THE ROOF 


55 


The children, however, made no answer, but backed 
farther and farther away from the big car and its driver. 

“Oh,” he said, with a laugh; “I see; you are afraid 
of me. You think maybe I'll carry you into town and 
turn you over to the city police. So perhaps you do 
well not to trust yourselves with me.” And with 
another laugh he was gone. 

The children by this time were well within the middle 
of the crossroad, and as soon as the man was out of 
hearing they began to wonder what had become of 
Nanny. For as far as their eyes could see up the 
straight, level road there was no sign of the little crea¬ 
ture. So they turned around and went back to the 
school house. 

Meanwhile, where was Nanny? She had run on 
far and fast, until she no longer heard the children’s 
voices. Then, as she was a very tired little goat, she 
stopped for a few minutes’ rest. 

Everything was quiet, but right in front of her were 
some bright red and yellow flowers, blooming behind 
a tall picket fence. Nanny wanted these flowers at 
once, not for a bouquet, as you might have wished, but 
to eat. 





i-'-'il 



DA 5 Hi V 


<< 


OA,” Ae .sozV/, w;ijA a laugh; “/ 5ee; 30a are afraid of me 


53 




56 































ON THE ROOF 


57 


She knew she couldn’t jump over the high fence with 
the points all along the top, but she went up to it and 
walked along beside it very slowly, sniffing the sweet 
air as she went. Soon she came to an iron gate, and 
as that was different from the rest of the fence, it made 
Nanny very curious, as usual. So to find out more 
about it, she pushed her little black nose against it, 
and as it was a gate without a latch it opened a little 
way. Seeing this, Nanny pushed harder and harder 
until it opened far enough to let her little body through; 
then there she was, right in the midst of a beautiful 
flower garden. 

The house, which was large and handsome, stood on 
a corner where two roads crossed. Nanny had come 
in at the side gate, but it was here that the most beau¬ 
tiful flowers grew. There were some large shrubs, thick 
with flowers, in the front yard and also some flowers 
in the back yard; but the choicest ones were right here 
close to Nanny’s hungry little mouth. 

Everything was very quiet, so Nanny lost no time, 
but began at once biting off the lovely flowers and chew¬ 
ing them up, having about as good a time as a little 
goat could have. 




58 


ON THE ROOF 


After a while she had to stop swallowing the blos¬ 
soms, for her stomach was so full it could hold no 
more; then she began snipping them off and dropping 
them on the ground, but she didn’t mean to stop as 
long as there was a flower in sight. 

When she was at some distance from the side gate 
and was close to a low building at the back of the house 
she heard again that strong bark, of which we now 
remember she was more afraid than of anything else 
in the world—the bark of a dog. 

Nanny looked around as if intending to run to the 
gate, but alas! the gate was not only far away, but 
that strong dog stood close beside it; and on the other 
side of the gate, coming rapidly toward it, were more 
dogs and boys, so there was no safety that way. Then 
she looked straight in front of her and this is what she 
saw: First, there was an overturned washtub; near 
that was an empty rain barrel with a board in it, and 
the board led up to the low roof of the woodshed. 

Nanny jumped upon the tub, ran up the board and 
jumped to the low roof; then the run from the low 
roof to the roof of the house was very quickly made. 
Her little feet did not stop for one second until she 
had reached the peak of the roof of the tall house. 




ON THE ROOF 


59 


Then she turned around in her narrow standing room 
and looked to see what was going on down on the 
ground. The sight which met her eye set her poor 
little goat heart beating with joy, for she was so high 
and safe from all harm. 

There were three big dogs down there and they were 
barking with all their might. With the dogs were 
several boys, and they were throwing sticks and clubs 
at Nanny, and calling and shouting to her at the top 
of their lungs. 













CHAPTER VIII 


SAFE AT LAST 



Poor little Nanny! We can be certain that she was 
very frightened. One dog was enough, as we have 
found out, to scare her nearly out of her senses, and 
here were three. 

But there was one good thing about it all. The boys 
were little fellows, none of them more than ten years 
old, so as their arms were not strong enough to throw 
sticks and stones very far, not even one of them had 
hit Nanny. She stood still on the peak of the house 
looking at them, and now and then giving a soft little 
“Ba-a-a.” 


60 



SAFE AT LAST 


61 


In the midst of all the noise and fuss a big boy 
came riding along on a motorcycle. He stopped oppo¬ 
site the gate and called as loudly as he could: 

‘‘Hello! What’s going on here?” 

The dogs at once stopped barking at Nanny and 
ran toward the gate, barking at the boy. The little 
boys, however, stayed near the house, and one of them 
called out: 

“Can’t you see? We’re trying to make that goat 
come down off the roof.” 

“What for?” asked the boy. “Can’t you let her stay 
on the roof if she enjoys it?” 

“No,” was the answer. “We want her to come down 
so we can shut her up and keep her safe jmtil her 
owner comes after her.” 

“Who is her owner?” 

“Don’t know.” 

“Well, do you know what’s going to happen to you?” 

“I don’t think that anything will happen to me for 
trying to get a goat down off of my own house roof.” 

“Do you know what the ‘S. P. C. A.’ is?” 

“Well, I think I do. It’s a lot o’ long words that 
I can’t remember. Our teacher’s told us about it 
several times.” 





“Come doivn off the roof ” 


62 



































































SAFE AT LAST 


63 


“But don’t you know part of those long words are 
about cruelty to animals?” 

“Oh, is that so? This is no cruelty.” 

“Well, that’s just what it is. You have scared that 
poor goat out of the little wit it had in the first place, 
and if someone should happen along here who belongs 
to that society you boys would be arrested very quick.” 

At this another boy called out: “You don’t know 
what you’re talking about. There is no such society. 
It’s just a lot of words to scare folks with.” 

“I don’t care whether it is or not,” said the first 
boy; “that goat has to come down off my roof!” 
And with these words he threw up another stick which 
fell on the woodshed roof. 

“All right,” said the boy on the motorcycle, “I know 
a lot of people who belong to the ‘S. P. C. A.’ and if 
I happen to meet any of them as I go on toward town 
I’ll tell them what’s going on back here and they'll 
come on lively to arrest every one of you.” 

Just at this moment a pleasant-faced lady came 
through the gate and called out sharply: 

“Charles, what are you doing there?” 

One of the boys, who had just picked up another 
stick to throw at Nanny, answered quickly: 




64 


SAFE AT LAST 


“Why, mother, just see what that naughty goat has 
done. It has eaten up all your beautiful flowers!” 

The woman then looked around and after a minute 
she gave a little gasp. “My!” she said. “Did one goat 
do all that?” 

“Yes, mother,” said the boy called Charles, “and now 
we are trying to make her come down from the roof 
so that we can shut her up.” 

Charles’ mother laughed. “Why, you naughty boy!” 
she said. “Do you think she will ever come down as 
long as she sees you boys and the dogs here? All of 
you boys take your dogs and go home; and you, 
Charles, go into the house.” 

“But if she is not watched,” said Charles, “she will 
come down and eat the rest of your flowers in the back 
yard.” 

I will stay here and watch her,” she said. “So now 
be off, all of you. You, Charles, bring me an apple 
from the kitchen and when she comes down we will 
catch her and shut her up until we find out where she 
belongs.” 




SAFE AT LAST 


65 


The boys started through the gate, with the dogs 
making a great noise, and at that moment a man riding 
along in a motor car stopped his machine and said to 
the lady: 

Isn t that Mrs. Green’s goat up there on your roof?” 

I don’t know, I’m sure. She strayed into the yard 
and then ran upon the roof to get away from the dogs.” 

Then the man said he was going right by Mrs. 
Green’s house, and he would stop and tell her about 
the goat. 

She must be very anxious about her by this time,” 
he said, “for she thinks a great deal about her little goat. 
If Mrs. Green isn’t there, I will leave word at the neigh¬ 
bors; if she is there I will bring her back in my car. 
It’s only about a mile.” 

So the man in the car and the boy on the motorcycle 
both went away, and in a few minutes everything was 
quiet inside the picket fence. The woman sat on a bench 
under a big tree and took out her embroidery. Nanny 
stayed on the roof, although she looked down now and 
then at the lady sitting there so quietly as if she almost 
had a notion to come down. After a long time had 
passed in this way, Nanny suddenly gave a “Ba-a-a” 




66 


SAFE AT LAST 


which was so truly joyful that the lady looked up the 
road, and there was the man coming back in the motor 
car and beside him sat a young lady who, as they came 
near, called out coaxingly: 

“Come, Nanny, Nanny.” 

Then Nanny turned herself about and trotted down 
from the roof as fast as she had gone up, and by the 
time her mistress had reached the gate Nanny was there 
to meet her. 

“Ah!” said her mistress, looking around, “I see the 
mischief my runaway goat has done. You must let me 
pay you for it.” 

“No,” was the answer; “that will not bring the flow¬ 
ers back, so we will just let it go.” 

Nanny’s mistress snapped a bright new chain into 
her collar as she said to the other lady: 

“I was afraid she’d break that rope, you see, but if 
I had only bought this chain yesterday you would not 
have lost all of your flowers.” 

The man with the motor car went on, because Mrs. 
Green said that she knew Nanny would not like to ride, 
and so, leading her by the chain, she started on her long 




SAFE AT LAST 


67 


walk back to her home, Nanny trotting along by her side 
as quietly as anyone could wish. 

Now we would like to know, wouldn’t we, how many 
of Runaway Nanny’s “Ba-a-a’s” it took to tell old 
Tom, the house cat, all about her "day out”. 










1 I XiOj 1 I 1 1 1A^L A 1 4^ I I 1 1 1 I ^ 

BOOK TWO 


m>mm 


FAN’S VANITY 



She was a beautiful blaek horse, with gray mane and 
tail. Her smooth sides shone like two mirrors and her 
neck arched with that proud curve which needed no 
“over check.” 

She was that rare thing, a perfectly sound horse, with 
no bad habits or tricks of temper, and with wonderful 
powers of speed. No touch of whip or rein was needed 
to urge her on, but at a soft word from her master or 
mistress away she went, her shapely feet twinkling in 
the air. 

She had known but one owner, who brought her up 
from a colt, and she had been petted and played with 
by the whole family. 

From the time she was six months old she had been 
in the habit of coming to the house, whenever the way 
was open, to be fed on sugar. She also dearly loved 


68 












A Beautiful Black Horse 

69 
















70 


FAN’S VANITY 


warm doughnuts, and when they were frying, her deli¬ 
cate scent never failed to discover it, and if she was 
loose in the barnyard and the gates were open, she 
would come trotting up to the kitchen door and ask 
for one with her gentle whinny. 

One beautiful summer morning her owner, on going 
to the field, found a handsome little bay colt lying by 
Fanny’s side, so after that she was allowed to run in 
the pasture lot that adjoined the barnyard. From this 
barnyard a long lane, with a gate at either end, led 
down to the road. These gates were usually kept closed, 
but one day the men carelessly left them open, and by 
an odd chance the gate which led into the yard in front 
of the house was also left open. 

Fan’s mistress was very busy in the kitchen when 
she heard footsteps enter the front hall and pass into 
the parlor. She hastily wiped her hands and started 
to see who her visitor was, for she remembered she had 
left the front door open so that the cool breeze might 
come in, and she feared that a tramp might also have 
entered, for the footfalls sounded very heavy. When 
she came into the parlor, to her great surprise, there 
stood Fan and her colt before the long mirror. Fan 
was holding her nose close up against the glass as 




FAN’S VANITY 


71 


though she thought the image there was another horse, 
but her mistress said: 

“Oh, Fan, are you growing vain?” 

She whinnied softly as if to say, “Have I not reason 
to be?” 

Now, what can we suppose she was thinking about? 
Perhaps she thought: 

“That is a very handsome horse in there, but the 
colt looks very much like my own.” 












THE CHICK AND THE CRUMB 


A Short Tale in Short Words 



An old hen in our yard has some chicks and we love 
to watch them at play and at work, for though we 
may not think it is much work to scratch, I’m certain 
if they could speak with our words they would tell us 
that it is. 

Today one of these chicks found a big crumb of 
bread. Then all the rest of the chicks ran at him to 
take it from him, but he ran, too; so the old hen chased 
them all. 

When she came up to the chick that had the crumb 
she gave him a sharp peck on the head, as if to say: 

“There, take that, since you are so bad.” 

The bad chick dropped the crumb, of course, and 
she took it up in her strong bill and broke it into small 


73 


74 


THE CHICK AND THE CRUMB 



bits. Then she called with her shrill voice, “Cluck, 
cluck, cluck!” to all the chicks, and so each one had 
some of the crumb. Did the bad chick have some, too? 

No, I think he was too naughty to eat with his 
mates, for he just stood far off and looked at them. 
He seemed to think, “No, if I can not have all the 
crumb, I will have none of it.” 

Now, we must not be like him when we have some 
nice bit to eat. If we should be, though we may not 
get a sharp peck on the head, we will get what is much 
worse—a bad spot in our hearts. 





BILLY’S ROAD 



Billy was not a boy, but a pet goat, with a great 
many funny ways. He followed the Clayton children 
everywhere, even to school. When the children were 
called in, he would lie down in the sun, or crop the 
grass that grew in the school yard. At the noon recess 
he made a good dinner, for every child in the school 
had something nice for Billy. He had never been in 
the school room. One day when the school house door 
was closed, there was a loud tapping on the door, and 


75 


76 


BILLY’S ROAD 


the teacher hastened to answer the call. When she 
opened the door, in walked Billy. The knocking had 
been made by his two strong horns. The teacher 
jumped back; she had always been a little timid of 
him. Billy knew this and presented his horns as if 
about to give her a ride on them. She called to Billy’s 
master, who left his books and, calling “Billy,” started 
out the door and the goat obediently followed. 

“Take him home at once,” the teacher said, and 
Clinton obeyed. 

The road to this school house lay across a rickety 
old bridge which spanned a narrow, rushing creek. 
One morning when the children came to the stream 
they found the old bridge torn up and some men work¬ 
ing to build a new one. One of the new sleepers was 
already down. As it made a very safe foot bridge, 
Clinton and his sister started to walk across it, thinking 
that Billy would follow them as he always did. 

Before they were half-way across the sleeper they 
heard Billy’s piteous bleat behind them, so they turned 
around and there he stood, his forefeet on the sleeper, 
while he bleated and looked doubtingly down at the 
swiftly rushing water. He did not fear to walk the 




BILLY’S ROAD 


77 


sleeper, for goats are very sure-footed animals, but 
lie did fear very much the noisy water below. 

W hen the children reached the other side of the creek 
they called him anxiously, but he still kept up his pitiful 
“Ba-a-a and his steady gaze at the water. Then they 
took from their lunch baskets the tidbits of which Billy 
was fond, but all in vain. He stood still and kept up 
his mournful bleating. 

Then one of the men (in a joking manner) 
proposed to throw him into the water, laughing at the 
children's screams and declaring a cold bath would be 
good for him. 

This threat seemed too real for Clinton, and fearing 
some harm might come to Billy, he came dashing across 
the sleeper and, taking his pet by the collar, he pushed 
his forefeet back off from the sleeper onto the ground. 
Then off he went on a swift run through the bushes 
calling loudly, “Come, Billy, Billy.” 

‘T declare,” said the man, who had threatened the 
cold bath, “if that boy isn't making a path for the goat 
through the oak grubs clear around the creek.” 

Emma went on alone and when she had nearly 
reached the school house Clinton came through the oak 
bushes out upon the road, with Billy at his heels. 




78 


BILLY’S ROAD 


The bridge was left with only the sleepers in place 
throughout the summer. Clinton and Billy soon had 
quite a road trodden around the creek, for the contrary 
goat would not go alone. Teamsters passing this way 
found this new path convenient, much easier than driv¬ 
ing through the creek, and soon the oak grubs were 
all trodden down and the new road received the name 
of “Billy’s Road,” but many people think it should 
have been called Clinton’s road. 



















I 

t 














79 




















SOME OF BOB’S TRIALS 



‘ Here, Bob, Bob,” called Frank loudly, “here’s a 
nice bone for you!” 

In answer to this call, a small brown-eyed Scotch 
terrier came bounding around the corner of the house.. 

He ran eagerly up to the bone, sniffed at it a moment, 
and then with his funny black nose held close to the 
tidbit, he rolled his eyes cautiously from side to side. 
He was evidently not hungry, yet quite unwilling to 
resign all claims to the bone. 

“Fido will get it,” said Frank, warningly. 

Fido was a neighbor’s dog whom Bob hardly noticed, 
and at the mention of his name Bob began to bark 
furiously, putting his nose now and then, between the 
barks, against the bone. 

“I will bury it for you,” said Frank, coming down 
from the porch, on the floor of which he had been 
sitting. 


80 


SOME OF BOB’S TRIALS 


81 


With a sharp stick he made a little hollow in the 
sand and placed the bone therein. He then carefully 
covered it up, Bob meanwhile watching his movements 
with great interest. 

Frank then returned to the porch, most certain that 
Bob would immediately dig up the bone and bury it 
himself. 

To Frank’s great surprise, however, he smelled the 
little mound all over carefully. Then, pushing some 
loose sand over it with his short, black nose, he came 
up the porch steps to Frank, wagging his stubby tail. 
He looked up into his master’s face, and his large 
brown eyes seemed to say: 

“Very well done for a boy, even if it did need a 
further touch or two.” 

But his trials with that bone were only just begun, 
for during all the sunny morning he kept his position 
on the porch in full view of the treasure-holding mound. 

First the grocer’s boy appeared with the day’s sup¬ 
plies for the house. He was at once forbidden approach 
in the choicest language known to dog lore. 

Then came an old hen with a brood of chickens. She 
was soon put to flight and her brood widely scattered. 








“Here’s a bone for you.” 



82 


SOME OF BOB’S TRIALS 


83 


The next intruder was a wandering old horse that 
was allowed to pick its living as best it could on the 
commons. His approach to the guarded mound sent 
Bob scurrying down the steps with fierce and loud 
barking. 

Then came an Italian vender of images, who almost 
planted his large feet on the precious spot. 

He had no sooner been disposed of than two boys 
from the school house across the street came to the 
pump for water. Bob’s special aversion at all times 
was boys; his patience was taxed to the utmost by their 
appearance at this time. 

But the anxiety which he had undergone, united to 
the vocal and physical exertion, seemed to have aroused 
Bob’s appetite, for when he was once more alone he 
dug up the bone and gnawed away at it with great 
satisfaction. When his meal was ended, he went to the 
house door and scratched the wire fly-screen with his 
yellow little paw. 

He was promptly admitted, and after the usual wag 
of tail, by way of things, he climbed to his favorite 
nook on the couch and was soon sound asleep. 

In the winter time Bob usually accompanies his 
master’s cutter on its trips down town. At that time, 





84 


SOME OF BOB’S TRIALS 


85 


as everyone knows, small boys are continually flinging 
snow-balls. Bob, of course, makes a very good and 
desirable target, but he has learned to elude his tor¬ 
mentors. The moment his quick eyes discern a group 
of boys on the sidewalk he shifts his position so that the 
cutter is between him and the hoys, and he is thus safe 
from their flying snow-balls. The unfailing promptness 
with which he retreats to the safe side of the cutter 
certainly seems very much like reasoning. 

Another of Bob’s trials is embodied in that little 
pest, the “sand burr.” These burrs attach themselves 
to the bottoms of his paws, thus causing pain at every 
step. During the early part of his experience with 
them he would dislodge them by rubbing his paws over 
his head, where they would fasten in his shaggy hair 
and so could not be felt. He soon learned, however, 
that his master or mistress could remove the burrs quite 
quickly, and now, like any other spoiled baby, he de¬ 
clines to do for himself what can he done by another. 
So when a sand burr lodges in his paw he comes hop¬ 
ping on three legs, and with pleading looks and down¬ 
cast tail he asks for relief. When it is given he always 
returns a wag of his tail before he trots happily away. 

A record of Bol)’s trials that did not touch upon his 




86 


SOME OF BOB’S TRIALS 


sufferings upon the Fourth of July would not be com¬ 
plete. He evidently thinks that although patriotism 
may be good enough for boys, it is not at all suitable 
to the Scotch terrier nature. 

At the first snap of the cracker he retreats under the 
bed of his mistress and there remains in hiding through¬ 
out the day, not even coming forth to ask for his meals. 

Last year there was a fine display of fireworks in the 
village which is Bob’s home, and the family was to 
motor to the place of exhibition. 

As the ladies were making their final preparations, 
one of them said, “Poor Bob; I suppose he will prefer 
to stay at home all alone.” 

From his position under the bed in an adjoining 
room, Bob, hearing his name mentioned in a kindly 
tone, came slowly out, his face still wearing a most 
forlorn expression. He looked around upon his two 
mistresses equipped for their ride, and his face imme¬ 
diately changed. His wise little head understood that 
an excursion was at hand, while his lively frisking and 
his wagging tail said as plainly as words could have 
done: 

“In spite of dangers, seen and unseen, I am going, 
too.” 




SOME OF BOB’S TRIALS 


87 


Under ordinary circumstances Bob is very much 
offended when put into any sort of a vehicle. On this 
occasion, however, he showed very plainly that he craved 
the shelter of the car. He came up while his friends 
were taking their places, and by standing on his hind 
feet, whining loudly, and wagging his tail vigorously, 
he succeeded in prevailing upon them to lift him to 
their level. He immediately pushed his way under the 
pile of lap robes and remained there during the long 
drive and the brilliant display of fireworks that fol¬ 
lowed. 

It was late when the car was turned homeward, and 
when the heart of the little town was passed the streets 
gradually grew quiet. Bob, with his usual shrewdness, 
soon discovered this improved condition and emerged 
from his covers. He looked eagerly about him, sniffed 
the air anxiously, listening apparently for the sound of 
the crackers, and then, satisfied that the danger was 
over, he made a sudden plunge out of the car and landed 
safely on the ground. The car was stopped at once, 
and Bob, looking up into the face of his master (it 
was a bright moonlight night), gave a wag of his tail 
which seemed to say: 

“Yes, I know it’s all over—for a while at least.” 




88 


SOME OF BOB’S TRIALS 


Despite these trials of Bob’s life, I am sure his pleas¬ 
ures quite overbalance them. So that, although leading- 
only a “dog’s life,” he is, on the whole, a very comfort¬ 
able happy fellow. 





NELLIE’S ORPHANS 



And carried her off. 


An old hen hid her nest far from the house and the 
harn. In due time she hatched out five fluffy, yellow 
balls with sharp, hlack eyes and little white legs. 

But the very next night while she was asleep under 
a low bush and warmly brooding her chicks, a sly fox 
came along and carried her off. 

In the morning, when the farmer was passing that 
way, he saw the five helpless little balls running about 


89 


90 


NELLIE’S ORPHANS 



in the wet grass and calling piteously for their mother’s 
warm wings. 

He caught them, put them into his hat, and took 
them to his wife, telling her the story. She said at 
once that she would not bother with them; he must 
take them out and kill them. But Nellie, who was a 
neighbor’s little girl, was there and heard what was 
said. 

“Oh, give them to me,” she begged; “I am certain 
mother will let me keep them, for we haven’t any 
chickens.” 

So she took them home in her apron. She fed them 
well, and then put them into an old basket and covered 
them with some woolen cloths. They cuddled up to¬ 
gether and were soon sound asleep. 




NELLIE’S ORPHANS 


91 


“They are my orphans,” said Nellie, and she soon 
had each one properly named. 

The next day they were too active to stay in the 
basket, so Nellie let them run out of doors in the warm 
sunshine. 

They grew finely, but whenever they were hungry 
or wanted to go to sleep, they would come up on the 
back steps, cuddle all in a heap close to the door, and 
call in their plaintive way until Nellie came and with 
her soft little hands put each one separately into the 
basket. When they outgrew the little basket, Nellie 
gave them a box to sleep in, and as the nights were 
cold the box was carried into the house every night, and 
this was done until they were full-grown chickens. 

“Now,” said Nellie, “you must go to the barnyard 
and sleep with the cow; you are not babies any longer.” 
So she carried them off to the stable and shut them in. 

But although they learned to roost like any well- 
regulated chickens, they kept coming to the back door 
every night in the same old way. 

It was no use to drive them off, which Nellie did 
most faithfully. They would only come back and call 
and call, until Nellie, taking one under each arm, car¬ 
ried them to the stable, making three trips to do so. 




92 


NELLIE’S ORPHANS 


After a long time they learned to go to the stable 
alone, but when the warm weather came and the stable 
doors were not shut they went to roost on the window 
ledge of Nellie’s room. Although night after night 
they were carried away and put in a tree to roost, they 
immediately flew down and went back to the window 
ledge. 

After a while they laid eggs and raised some beautiful 
chicks, but she always called them her orphans.” 













RINKTUM 



Poor Rinktum! Through the long, beautiful month 
of June he was turned out to pick his living as best he 
could. To be sure, he could hardly be cold and there 
was always the shelter of the porch when the days were 
rainy. But he was very often hungry. 

When his mistress had gone away for a long visit the 
hired girl next door, who seemed very fond of Rinktum, 
had promised that she would feed him regularly. But, 
like everybody else in this topsy-turvy world, she had 
troubles of her own, and so she didn’t always remember 
to feed poor Rinktum. Sometimes in the midst of her 
hurrying work she would think of him, but as she 
couldn’t feed him then, she would quiet her conscience 
by saying to herself: 

“Well, there are birds and mice and bugs in plenty 
for Mr. Rinktum to catch, so he needn’t starve if he’s 
smart.” 


93 


94 


RINKTUM 


But alas! although Rinktum was exceedingly smart, 
the birds, mice and bugs were often even smarter than 
lie; and besides all that, his smartness couldn’t coax 
milk away from the cow, and how could any poor cat 
be happy without an occasional drink of milk? 

So one hot day, when the family came trooping up 
tlie veranda steps and the mistress unlocked the door 
Rinktum was so happy that, as he climbed into his 
mistress’ lap, his loud purrings filled the room. 

For several days thereafter life flowed on very de¬ 
lightfully until one morning, as he lay sleeping on his 
own particular cushion, his mistress picked him up and 
set him gently down on the porch while the daughter 
of the house locked the door. 

Now, Rinktum immediately realized what was com¬ 
ing, and what do you suppose he did? Just gave the 
most pleading “Me-ouw” you ever heard and looked 
up beseechingly into their faces. 

They both pitied him and petted him and told him 
in the kindest tones that they would soon be at home 
again. 

Rinktum, of course, understood their kind tones, but 
he could hardly comprehend their words. Although 
he was only a cat, he remembered well what had hap * 




Rinktum 


95 











96 


RINKTUM 


pened before when he was put out of the house and the 
doors locked, and then he did a strange tiling, which 
looked very much like reasoning. 

As the two ladies started down the grassy path, he 
ran a short distance in front of them, then crouched 
down on their feet and uttered the most forlorn cries. 
He said just as plainly as though he possessed human 
speech, “Oh, don’t go, please don’t go and leave me so!” 

They tried to drive him back, but in vain, he kept up 
his crying and rolling at their feet, until a big 
dog happened along, and then, as there was nothing 
he feared so much as a dog, he retreated hurriedly to 
his shelter under the porch. 

When, a few hours later, the two ladies came home, 
Rinktum came with bounds and leaps to meet them, 
rolled at their feet just as he had done before, 
but this time he was purring instead of wailing. 

It makes us glad to tell, that Rinktum was never 
left alone again, without someone to look after him. 
And so we now know his rolling and “meowing” were 
not all in vain. 




THE SILVER THIMBLE 



“This is a miserable world,” croaked Jack, “I al¬ 
most wish I had never come into it. Here I am tugging 
and working as hard as any man, to lay up treasures, 
but in some mysterious way, they leave as fast as I 
gather them,” and he stood on the edge of an old pump, 
whose top was broken off, and looked disconsolately into 
its half-filled depths. 

He was a comfortable looking fellow. His coat was 
black, smooth and glossy, and judging from his round, 
plump body, it was evident his trouble did not affect 
his appetite. 

While he stood gazing down at his depleted stores, 
a fair, good-natured looking lady went out of the front 
door of the house, at the rear of which the old pump 
stood. Before she descended the steps she appeared 
to remember something, and turning about, she opened 
the door and called out, 


97 


98 


THE SILVER THIMBLE 


“Frank, I wish you would go find Jack and shut 
him up. I don’t want that crow following me up to 
Mrs. Smith’s.” 

“Yes, mother,” answered a voice from within, and 
then the door closed and the farmer’s wife went down 
the steps and up the road on her way to pay a neigh¬ 
borly visit. 

A few moments after, a boy came out the back door 
of the house, within a few feet of the old pump, and 
called “Jack, Jack!” but there was no responsive “Caw, 
caw!” and after looking about a few moments for him, 
and calling loudly all in vain, the boy returned to the 
house. 

The order to shut Jack up had come too late, for 
the crow’s sharp eyes had caught sight of his mistress’ 
figure as she came around the corner of the house, and, 
having gained wisdom from experience, he promptly 
sought a place of safety and refused to respond to the 
call, which he could not have helped hearing. 

When all was quiet again, a small black figure went 
swiftly out from the top of the tall oak tree which 
stood behind the barn. 

When the farmer’s wife had nearly reached the 
neighbor’s house, she chanced to look over her shoulder, 




THE SILVER THIMBLE 


99 



“Caw, caw,” cried the crow. 


and discovered the same little black figure trotting de¬ 
murely behind her. 

“Jack!” she exclaimed, standing still and looking 
at him sternly. 

“Caw, caw!” cried the crow, opening his wide mouth 
and spreading his black wings. 

The farmer’s wife laughed in spite of herself. 

“You are a spoiled baby,” she said, “I wish Frank 
had left you in the nest, or else that the man who shot 
your father and mother had missed his mark, then you 
would have been brought up like a respectable crow.” 

She went on again, the crow keeping closely by her 
side. When she went into the neighbor’s house, her 




100 


THE SILVER THIMBLE 


singular escort perched himself on the window sill and 
looked in at the open window as if listening intelli¬ 
gently to the conservation. 

After a while he ventured into the house, was duly 
noticed, laughed at, and fed by the hostess, and then 
no further attention was paid to him. 

The afternoon wore away, and when tea was served, 
the visitor missed Jack, who was accustomed to sit on 
the back of her chair during meal time. 

“He must have grown homesick and returned with¬ 
out me,” said his mistress, feeling very much relieved. 

But her relief gave place to anxiety when, a few 
moments after tea, her hostess said, 

“Why, where is my silver thimble? I put it here 
on the window sill when I went out to make the bis¬ 
cuits.” 

“Ah, I’m afraid that explains Jack’s absence,” said 
her visitor, “he has taken it and carried it home.” 

“Oh,” exclaimed the lady, “I am so sorry, I have had 
it twenty years.” 

“Never mind, you are likely to have it twenty years 
more. Jack puts all his collections into an old pump 
back of the house, and we always know where to look 
for things that are missing, especially bright things.” 




THE SILVER THIMBLE 


101 


When she reached home it was after sun down and 
Jack had gone to his usual roosting place in the barn. 
She took a pair of tongs and had no trouble in getting 
the thimble, for the pump stood flat on the ground, 
and as there were but a few things in it, she saw the 
thimble plainly. She gave it to Frank, who at once re¬ 
stored it to its delighted owner. 

People sometimes ask Jack’s mistress why she doesn’t 
take the old pump away, so that Jack cannot have so 
convenient a place in which to hide his treasures. A 
very silly and short sighted question, and she always 
answers it in the same way. “What for? So that he 
will get another hiding place, which may not be so ac¬ 
cessible. You must remember it is quite as convenient 
for us as it is for him. When a friend who was visiting 
here took off her diamond ring to help me with the 
dishes, and Jack carried it off, we were pretty glad that 
we knew just where it was. Since that time we do all we 
can to have Jack keep this hiding place, and we never 
take anything away from it unless it is something that 
we must have, like the silver thimble or the diamond 
ring.” 




“DOCTOR PUSS” 



“Grandmother, please, please, pull my tooth.” 

The grandmother frowned a little as she answered, 
“Pull your tooth, child, why, I never did such a thing in 
my life.” 

“It’s nothing to do, Grandmother, it’ll come easy, 
it’s just as loose, and see, here is a string tied around 
it all ready.” 

“Well if it’s so easy, why not pidl it yourself?” 

“Oh, I don’t know, I cannot make up my mind to 
do it.” 

“Well neither can I,” said grandmother with a laugh. 


102 



DOCTOR PUSS 


103 


“But see, Grandmother, all you have to do it to take 
hold of this string,” and she tried to place the ends of 
the strong thread in her grandmother’s hand, “then 
I’ll run away and the tooth will come out.” 

“No, no, I can’t hang on to that bit of thread, as soon 
as you run I’ll let go, so please don’t ask me any more. 
Wait until you go home, and your Father will pull it 
for you.” 

“Didn’t you ever pull his teeth when he was a little 
boy?” persisted the child. 

“No, indeed, his father did that for him.” 

Nellie walked away without another word, but like 
many another little girl, she did not enjoy waiting, she 
did not intend to go home until the following day, and 
the tooth troubled her, it was loose and sore and she 
wanted to be rid of it more than she could tell. In a 
few minutes she was again at her grandmother’s side. 
The string was still dangling from her mouth, but on 
its end was fastened a big, brass button. 

“Now Grandmother,” she said coaxingly, “you can 
hang onto the button when I run away from you.” 

But her grandmother was beginning to be troubled 
at the child’s persistence. 

“I will not pull your tooth, Nellie,” she said firmly. 




104 


DOCTOR PUSS 


“If you haven’t the courage to pull it yourself, it must 
just stay in your mouth until you go home, and now 
as my head is aching badly, don’t trouble me any more, 
for I want to take a nap.” 

Nellie went off out of doors, very much put out. Her 
grandmother’s neighbors were old like herself, and 
she knew it would be quite useless to appeal to them. 

“If my own grandmother won’t do it for me, I 
will not bother any one else, she thought, as she 
threw herself into the hammock. 

It was cool and quiet out there, and the hammock 
swayed gently to and fro, so she presently found her¬ 
self growing drowsy. 

I 11 take a nap too, she thought, “and maybe when 
I wake up I’ll feel like pulling the tooth myself.” 

So she fell asleep, and the long string with the but¬ 
ton on the end, hung over the side of the hammock. It 
was a breezy day, and the button swung gently back 
and forth in the wind. 

Nellie had been sound asleep for several minutes, 
when her grandmother’s pet kitten came that way step¬ 
ping daintily through the grass. Suddenly, she espied 
the swaying, shining button. She sprang at it joyously, 
knocking it this way and that in her own playful fashion 




DOCTOR PUSS 


105 


hut not making the slightest sound, so Nellie still slept 
on sweetly. 

But finally the kitten seemed to change her methods. 
She drew away several feet from the swaying button and 
crouching low, watched it intently for a few minutes. 
Perhaps she was thinking that she just must have that 
shining thing which swayed about as if it were alive. 
She had caught her first mouse only the day before and, 
as she was not very wise in the things of this queer 
world, perhaps she thought it was something which 
would taste as sweet and juicy as that delicious bit, so 
after several minutes spent in making ready for the 
final spring, she gave a sudden fierce pounce, and 
caught the shining, swinging thing firmly between her 
two strong little paws. 

At this Nellie gave a little groan and sat up. Some¬ 
thing hurt her. The first thing she saw was the big 
brass button in the kitten’s paws, and there on the end 
of the string was the little white tooth, dangling. “Why, 
kittie, you darling, you have pulled my tooth,” she said 
and she put her finger in her mouth. Yes, it was really 
and truly gone. 

Nellie was of course very happy, but the kitten? 
She was disappointed of course to discover that she had 




106 


DOCTOR PUSS 


caught only a hard, shining thing into which she could 
not even set her white, little teeth. 

Nellie was so pleased with what she had done for her 
that she carried her into the house and gave her all 
the nice, sweet milk that she could drink. 

After that she always called the kitten “Dr. Puss.” 

When her grandmother waked up, Nellie told her 
all about it and added, 

“Whenever I have a loose tooth I am coming over 
here to take a nap in the hammock and have Doctor 
Puss pull my tooth.” 






GRANDFATHER’S WALKING STICK 



Bring Grandfather his walking stick 


“Harold, run into the hall and bring Grandfather his 
walking stick.” 

Harold ran off willingly, enough, for nothing de¬ 
lighted him more than to mount his grandfather’s cane 
and go prancing across the floor as though he were 
riding a fiery run-away horse. 

Presently he piped up from the hall, 

“Where is it, Grandfather?” 


107 









108 


GRANDFATHER’S WALKING STICK 


‘‘On the hall table,” was the answer. 

“But Grandfather, your cane isn’t on the table, and 
I don’t see it anywhere else around here, either.” 

“Who said anything about a cane?” called Grand¬ 
father, with well pretended impatience, “Did I tell you 
to bring my cane?” 

“I don’t believe you did say 'cane,’ ” was the slow 
answer, “but you said 'walking stick,’ and they are 
the same, aren’t they? And there isn’t a single thing 
on the table, but a big limb with leaves all over it. I 
wonder who put it there? Bridget scolds like every¬ 
thing when I bring limbs full of leaves into the house.” 

“Bring the limb here; if you carry it very carefully, 
the leaves will not drop off,” commanded the grand¬ 
father. 

“But don’t you want your cane?” asked Harold, who 
was most unwilling to lose his ride on the make-believe 
horse. 

“Who said anything about a cane?” asked his grand¬ 
father the second time, “if you can’t find the walking- 
stick bring the limb with the leaves on it, and keep your 
eye on it so that you will scatter none of the leaves on 
the floor.” 






GRANDFATHER’S WALKING STICK 


109 


Harold obeyed, walking slowly and carefully with 
his eyes on the pointed leaves. When he was nearing 
his grandfather’s chair, he suddenly called out, 

“Why isn’t that queer? There is a pretty little green 
stick on one of the leaves; I wonder why it doesn’t fall 
off?” He shook the limb very gently and then he ex¬ 
claimed, 

“Qh Grandfather, it has legs, such funny ones too, 
and now, why Grandfather, it’s walking, really and 
truly, the stick is walking!” and he gave a call of de¬ 
light. “Oh, now I see, this is your walking stick,” and 
in his excitement he thrust the limb into his grand¬ 
father’s face. 

“Here, you lively youngster,” exclaimed the old gen¬ 
tleman with a laugh, as he caught the limb in both 
hands, “do you want to put my eyes out and lose my 
walking stick too?” 

“But what is it doing on that leaf, and where did you 
get it?” were the little boy’s next questions. 

“He is eating the leaf, don’t you see? Just watch 
him a few minutes.” 

“Some way, I don’t like to watch him very well,” 
said Harold, ‘‘he has such big, bright eyes, that stare at 
me so. Will he hurt me?” 




110 


GRANDFATHER’S WALKING STICK 


“No indeed,” Grandfather answered, “there is not 
in the whole insect world a more harmless creature than 
this walking stick, or stick insect, or to give him his 
right name, Diapheromera femorata ” 

“O my,” said the little boy, with a wry face, “why his 
name is longer than he is, and I know that I can never 
learn to say it.” 

“Oh yes, you can, and when you have learned the 
name, I will tell you something about the queer 
creature.” 

Harold said the name over and over until lie was 
able to pronounce it correctly, for although it is a long 
name it is not, as we will see, at all difficult to speak. 

“Now, said his grandfather, “you have learned one 
thing about the little fellow, which is that he eats the 
walnut leaves. I think his next choice is the oak leaves, 
for I have often found one on them. The insect books 
tell us that there are not so many walking sticks to be 
found as there were some years ago, and I have thought 
it might be because the walnut forests have been cleared 
away. I remember, many years ago, in the year 1878 , 
these insects came in such numbers in a certain walnut 
forest, that in the fall of the year when the females were 
dropping their eggs upon the ground, which was cov- 




GRANDFATHER’S WALKING STICK 


111 


ered with the fallen leaves, they made a sound just like 
a shower of rain.” 

“What a strange way to lay eggs,” said Harold. “It’s 
a good thing that they haven’t any shells on them.” 

“If they had shells on them, you may depend upon 
it that they would not drop them around in that way.” 

“And do the eggs live all through the cold winter?” 

“Yes, the cold does not affect them, and in May 
they hatch out.” 

“Are they like some of the other insects that you have 
told me about, that have to change two or three times 
in their looks?” 

“No, these creatures belong to what are known as 
the orthoptera, a kind of insect whose form does not 
change, except in size and color. When they are first 
hatched they are much smaller than this one, and of a 
much paler green. In about six weeks after hatching 
they reach their full size, but their color does not change 
until late in the fall, about the time that the leaves 
change, then they become brown just like the leaves, 
so they are as hard to find then as they are now.” 

“What funny joints he has in each one of his six 
long legs.” 




112 


GRANDFATHER’S WALKING STICK 


“Yes, and if it should be so unlucky as to break one 
of those legs, below the joint, the leg would grow on 
again, although it would be smaller than it was before, 
but should it break off above the joint it would never 
grow again. When I was a boy I found one with but 
five legs, so I thought I would watch the leg grow again, 
as I had heard they did, so I put the insect in a glass 
jar with plenty of walnut leaves, and I watched it every 
day to see the new leg grow on, but it did not appear, 
and so I let it out, thinking maybe it would not grow 
because the insect was shut up. The little thing was 
around there all summer, we had a whole row of walnut 
trees in the field near the house, but the leg did not grow 
out. I did not find out why until many years later.” 

“How did you find it out?” asked Harold, “did you 
see that same walking stick again, after that long time?” 

“No,” laughed his grandfather, “but I read in an in¬ 
sect book the law in the matter, and then I remem¬ 
bered that the stick which I had watched had its leg 
broken off above the joint, so, of course, the poor thing 
could never have had a new leg.” 

“Have you ever seen any of their eggs?” 

“Yes, and they look just like little seeds. Each 
female lays about one hundred, which makes it seem 




GRANDFATHER’S WALKING STICK 


113 


strange that we don’t see more of the walking sticks 
than we do.” 

“Maybe,” said the child slowly, with his eyes on the 
queer-looking insect, “most people are like I was, they 
don’t know what to look for.” 

“Very likely; most of us, I fancy, go through the 
world missing a great deal just because we don’t know 
what to look for.” 

“But I’ll not forget,” said the boy, “that a walking 
stick is not always a cane, but is sometimes a stick that 
really does walk.” 





A MORNING BATH 


Harry was sitting on the lawn close beside the back 
porch, where the grass grew green and long. 

The postman had just brought the latest copy of his 
favorite magazine, and he was lost to everything but 
its stories and pictures. 

Suddenly the rain came pattering on his face and on 
his book in a perfect shower. He jumped up quickly 
and then found that the rain was falling only where 
he stood. 

He ran away from the showery spot, and looked up 
at the sky. It was as blue as his own eyes, without a 
single cloud on its fair surface. 

As he looked back to where he had been sitting he 
saw that the drops of water came from the roof of the 
porch. It looked very funny indeed. The water was 
coming down in a lively sprinkle, yet Harry could not 
see whence, or why, it came. 


114 


A MORNING BATH 


115 


He stood gazing up with a very puzzled face, when 
suddenly he heard the familiar sound, 

“Chicker, chicker, chicker; 

Then the glossy head of an English sparrow appeared 
above the edge of the porch, in a moment the body be¬ 
longing to the head followed. 

Harry stood very still and watched the bird as it 
preened its wet feathers with its little black bill. 

Soon other little heads came up and in a twinkling 
there was a row of dripping little bodies ranged on the 
edge of the cornice. 

“Oh, I see,” thought Harry, “their bath-tub is the 
deep gutter which runs around the top of the porch. 
It rained last night, and so it is full of water. No 
wonder they made a lively shower on my face.” 

Presently they began to fly away. But before the 
very last one was gone, others came, and flew straight 
down to the bathing-place, as if they knew just where 
they were going. 

“It must be,” thought Harry, “that the first ones 
told the others where there was a fine place to take a 
morning bath.” 





Chicker, Chicker, Chicker 




116 



A SENSIBLE HORSE 


He belongs to a baker. His master went into a res¬ 
taurant at noon to deliver some pies. He stayed so 
long in the place eating and talking that it appeared 
he had forgotten his faithful horse’s noon meal. After 
a while he came out carrying a great mug full of coffee. 
There were two other men with him, and they were 
laughing at the baker’s jokes. Then the baker went up 
to the beautiful horse and offered him the coffee to 
drink. 

Must we suppose he took it? No indeed! He gave 
it one sniff from his smooth, brown nostrils. Then he 
turned his head away with a jerk so sudden that he 
knocked the coffee and all, upon the pavement. He 
looked at his master as if to say, “Don’t you think I 
know what is good for me. 

So his joking master had to pay for both the coffee 

and the glass. 

Wise old horse, he was not afraid to give his opinion 
of a foolish joke. 


117 



A sensible horse 


118 




“COONIE” 



Maizie was perfectly happy, she had reached grand¬ 
father’s at last. As she sat before the fire munching 
an apple she heard a soft, purring sound behind her. 

“Oh kitty,” she said, turning hastily, for she and 
the great white cat were old friends. But instead of 
the cat there stood beside her a creature so strange 
that Maizie cried “Oh!” very loud. 

“What is the matter?” asked grandmother, coming 
into the room just then. 

Maizie said nothing, but pointed to the funny crea¬ 
ture beside her. 

“That is a raccoon,” said grandmother laughing, “he 
will not hurt you, he’s kind and gentle, give him some 
of your apple, his name is Coonie. 

Maizie held toward Coonie a tempting piece of fruit. 
He took it in his funny little paws, which looked as if 
they were covered with fine black gloves. He then sat 
up on his hind legs like a squirrel, until the apple was 


119 



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MkM 




‘'That is a Raccoon ’ 


120 















































































































































COONIE 


121 


eaten. When the last crumb had disappeared he 
jumped into Maizie’s lap and purred softly while she 
soothed his soft dark fur. 

Later in the day Maizie found him in the kitchen 
standing on his hind legs before the milk-safe. He 
was turning the button on the door with his naughty 
black paws, which were just like hands, and quite as 
deft. He was about to treat himself to a fine feast 
of cream which he could skim off the tops of the pans. 

Coonie was a sad thief. Maizie soon found that if 
she watched all his pickings, she would be kept pretty 
busy. One day he climbed up on a chair and snatched 
a loaf of bread from the table. 

Maizie saw him backing down the steps of the kitchen 
porch with the loaf hugged up to him, under one of his 
fore legs. 

We may be certain he was not allowed to go very 
far with one of grandmother’s nice loaves of bread. 

Another time Maizie found him carrying off in the 
same way, a large and sharp butcher knife. She called 
and ran after him, he dropped the knife at once and 
disappeared in his hole which was under the woodshed 
floor. 




122 


COONIE 


One day he followed Maizie to one of the neighbors. 
The lady took down a box to give him a cooky, and, as 
she bent over him with the box in her hand, Coonie 
jumped at it and pulled it to the floor, then seating him¬ 
self in it he ate his fill, growling and showing his teeth, 
if anyone, even Maizie, came near him. After that, 
when Maizie went calling, Coonie was left at home. 

But he had one excellent trait. He would not come 
into the house until he had carefully cleaned his feet, 
using his rough tongue, just as a cat does. He would 
sit on the door step and make himself very neat and 
spotless, then he would shake his head and rattle the 
little silver bell which was fastened to the leather collar 
around his neck. This was his way of saying “Let me 
in, please.” 

Someone would always open the door at this sound, 
if it was evening Coonie would curl up in a little heap 
beneath grandfather’s chair. There he would lie pur¬ 
ring softly, until he was put out in the woodshed at 
bedtime. 




RABBITS 


A bright quarter of a dollar was snuggling safe in 
Harry’s pocket. As it was the first one which he had 
ever been able to call his own, we may be certain he 
was very proud of it. How did it happen to get into 
his pocket? Well in the first place, he found a nickel 
in the middle of the street crossing. 

“I’ll save this nickel,” he said until I find out just 
what I want most.” 

Then his uncle gave him a dime, and so he decided 
to wait until he thought of something costing fifteen 
cents. 

The next day as he was coming home from school 
the grocer gave him ten cents for carrying some goods 
to a lady who was in a great hurry for them, and as she 
was a very good customer, the grocer didn’t like to ask 
her to wait until the wagon came back to the store. 

Harry was afraid he might lose the three coins, as 
he had no purse in which to carry them, so he asked 


123 


124 


RABBITS 


the grocer to give him a quarter for them. “Because,” 
he told the grocer, “I can keep track of one coin more 
easily than I can of three.” 

His mother thought he would better put the quarter 
into his bank. But he said, “No, I want to keep it in 
my pocket until I see something that I want more than 
anything, then I’m going to spend it right away quick.” 
He carried it about with him two or three days, every 
once in a while taking it out and looking at it to be 
sure that it was really there. As he was coming home 
from school, one day, when he had owned his quarter 
almost a whole week, he met a neighbor boy carrying 
home a pair of beautiful white rabbits. 

“Oh, where did you get them?” Harry asked at once. 
The boy told him and then added, “I bought them for 
a quarter, and the man has a lot more at the same price.” 
In an instant Harry knew just what he wanted to do 
with his beloved quarter; and without saying a word 
to any one he was off like a flash to the place where the 
rabbits were sold. 

The next day was Saturday, so Charlie the older 
brother made a hutch in which the rabbits could live, 
and Harry was probably never any happier in his life 
than when he was watching that hutch grow into a home 




RABBITS 


125 


for his pets. Charlie first dug a hole five feet square 
and two feet deep. This hole he curbed like a well by 
laying boards up the sides and fitting them together 
at the corners. The lowest tier of boards was sunk 
three inches in the ground so that the rabbits coidd 
not dig their way out of their comfortable home. 

Charlie’s next care was to give them a shelter from 
the storms. He sawed an old kerosene oil barrel into 
halves, and making a hole in one of the halves large 
enough for a rabbit to pass through he turned it over 
a heap of clean straw, then he sawed a hole in the pen 
opposite the hole in the barrel, and in this way the 
rabbits could run into the barrel and sleep on the straw 
whenever they felt like it. He next made a rack to 
hold their food so that it would not be scattered all 
over their pen. This rack was made like those from 
which horses eat hay, but it was so small and light 
that Harry could carry it in one hand, and as soon as 
it was finished he ran off to fill it with clover leaves, 
dock leaves, and the leaves of the plant you call 
“cheeses.” 

The bunnies seemed very happy in their new home. 
The pen was so large that Harry could jump into it 
and play with his pets and as he spent every moment 




126 


RABBITS 



The Bunny seemed very happy 


there, when he was not in school or doing things for his 
mother, the rabbits soon became very fond of their 
young master, would eat out of his hand, climb on his 
shoulder, and show in every way that he was a good 
master, and that they loved him with all their rabbit 
hearts. 

One morning when Harry turned over the half bar¬ 
rel to put some clean straw under it, he was delighted 
to find four baby rabbits lying in one corner. Although 






RABBITS 


127 


lie was so pleased he was forced to own up to himself 
that the little creatures were not at all pretty. 

He took one of them in his hand to show his sister, 
but first turned the barrel back again and unstopped 
the hole from the pen so that the mother could get to 
her babies w T hile he was away. 

When his sister saw the funny little thing in his hand 
she screamed and ran away, thinking he was carrying 
a young rat. 

“It might be pretty,” she said, “if it had some fur 
on it and had its eyes open.” 

When the time came for the little creatures to open 
their eyes, they saw that one of them was blind, its 
eyes did not open. 

Many people told Harry to kill it, but Harry 
would not do it. He said very sensibly, “He doesn’t 
know he’s blind, and I can take care of him, he’ll he 
just as happy.” 

Which was very true. Shakespeare says in one of 
his plays 

“He that is stricken blind cannot forget 
The precious treasure of his eyesight lost.” 

But we know this rabbit had never known eyesight, 
so he could not lose it, and as he could not understand 




128 


RABBITS 


human speech, he did not know there was a sense called 
“sight.” 

Harry supposed he would always have to show him 
where his food was, and might perhaps, even have to 
feed him, but he soon found out that the blind rabbit 
could smell just where the food was, and could get to 
it more quickly than the other rabbits did. He could 
also hear his master’s footstep sooner than the others. 
So though one sense was taken away the other four 
were quicker and keener. Wasn’t that wonderful? So 
after all, he is just as happy as his brothers and sister. 

— Finis — 




































































































































































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